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😘 The smooch seen ‘round the world. Page Six dropped another bombshell photo of America’s two favorite secret lovers, this time locking lips at a bar circa March 2020. This, of course, throws quite the wrench in Dianna Russini’s and Mike Vrabel’s initial claims that there was nothing to see here. (Reluctantly) more on this below.

⚖️ DOJ investigates. The Justice Department reportedly met with executives from local station groups regarding its investigation into the migration of live sports from broadcast networks to streaming services. The agency is expected to issue “civil investigation demands” to sports leagues, TV networks, and the local broadcasters as part of its probe.

💸 WBD tells Zaz to take a walk. While Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount’s purchase of the company, they rejected CEO David Zaslav’s exorbitant compensation package that could have reached up to $550 million. They also did the same for other WBD executives that stand to make over $100 million from the deal.

Read more of today’s top stories at Awful Announcing.

Dear readers, I did everything in my power to avoid writing about the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel saga as the main story of today’s newsletter. Even after a new tranche of photos dropped midday Thursday, this time offering the most damning evidence against the pair yet, I wasn’t planning to write about this story. Those photos, which show Russini and Vrabel smooching at a bar circa March 2020, days before the world shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, seemed to simply confirm what most of us who can read context clues already knew.

But then, 40 minutes before the first round of the NFL Draft was set to get going, Vrabel decided to hold a press conference, ostensibly to address the new report. What happened in those seven minutes with the press pushed me over the edge. I couldn’t avoid writing about it.

Instead of owning the situation, taking accountability, and apologizing for lying, Vrabel ran back the same playbook he used during his Tuesday press conference. He failed to directly address his relationship with Russini and instead fell back on platitudes about doing what is right for his family and the New England Patriots organization.

“I take accountability for my actions and the actions that caused a distraction to the people I care most about: my family, this football team, the organization, and our fans,” Vrabel said in his opening statement. “My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to. They don’t. And what I believe is best for the two most important things in my life, my family and this football team, is for us to take the necessary steps to work together and to give them what I told them I’d give them, which is the best version of me. And that’s what we’re going to do. And that’s going to start. That has started. That’ll continue this weekend, and it’ll continue for however long it takes for me to give them, and to complete that promise of giving them the best version of me possible. And that’s what’s going to happen and that’s what’s been happening.”

Talk about saying a lot without saying anything at all.

After about 90 more seconds of largely the same types of statements, bringing his opening comments to about three minutes, Vrabel finally opened it up to questions from reporters. The first question asked why Vrabel would be stepping away on Saturday, when the NFL Draft is still ongoing.

“When you prioritize your family first and your job, that’s what’s required,” Vrabel answered. “And that’s what was necessary. I got a lot of support from everybody involved and so that’s what I was able to do, willingly, and I want to do that. And that’s important to me. But there’s also a balance there. When my family needs me, I’ll be there. And I know that there’s a way to give them the best version of me and also provide and get what I need for my family, and also for this football team.”

After a couple more minutes talking about being a family man, a reporter finally asked the money question.

“Mike can you explain how over the last two-and-a-half weeks, we go from your original statement about any insinuation that the photos were anything other than innocent was ‘laughable,’ to your comments Tuesday, to now deciding to go to counseling, what is that process?” a reporter asked.

“Well, that’s a private and personal matter,” Vrabel deflected. “I don’t think that those comments, I think that that was a, uh, always is an attempt to protect your family. I would never be dismissive. But, I think my family and this football team are the most important thing, and that’s what I plan to do. And I’m excited about the challenge with both of those things.”

That was it. That was Mike Vrabel’s press conference after new evidence showed his initial denial was full of shit. Not once did he directly address Russini or explain why he denied any improper relationship. Not once did he detail why he was stepping away from the Draft on Saturday outside of generalities about doing what was right for his family. Not once did he own up to any of what has become abundantly apparent to any reasonable onlooker over the past two-and-a-half weeks.

Vrabel had one final opportunity to own this situation, accept he’s at fault, apologize for lying, and begin to rebuild his image. Instead, he continued to dodge and deflect.

It begs the question, what was the point of holding this press conference in the first place? Vrabel didn’t materially change his stance from Tuesday, before the 2020 photos of him and Russini kissing at a bar were released.

Now he looks even worse, all the while everyone yells “hypocrite” at the guy who almost assuredly cheated on his wife but continues to use his family as a shield. This saga will be taught in communications classes for years as a masterclass in how not to handle a PR crisis.

A short aside, don’t expect this story to go away anytime soon. The timeline of yesterday’s photos opens up an entirely new can of worms. This relationship went on for at least six years. Russini filed a lot of reports during that time. Were any of those reports helpful to Vrabel, either intentionally or unintentionally?

We’ve already seen at least one such report raise eyebrows. In 2021, while Vrabel was still the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Russini filed a report about Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who was firmly on the trade block. Russini reported the Falcons had received an offer that included a future first-round pick for Jones.

Ultimately, Jones would be traded for a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick to … Tennessee. How are these things connected? Well, if other teams took Russini’s report at face-value, believing the Falcons already had a first-round offer in their pocket and knowing they weren’t willing to match that, they could have been dissuaded from contacting the Falcons in the first place, clearing the way for the Titans to land the trade.

Who knows how many other similar scenarios will be found in Russini’s reporting.

For what it’s worth, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated the league’s stance on the matter ahead of yesterday’s draft. “This is not a personal conduct policy... It's a personal matter,” the commish said.

Well, if it becomes apparent through a review of Russini’s reporting that there could’ve been competitive advantages gained by Vrabel’s teams over the years, it’ll become a league matter pretty quickly.

Kirk Herbstreit was not interested in sampling Pittsburgh’s local delicacy, Primanti Bros., during last night’s NFL Draft coverage. (As a Steelers fan myself, I have to agree with Kirk here.)

And no one felt better about Ty Simpson being taken No. 13 by the Los Angeles Rams than Dan Orlovsky, who spent much of the lead-up to draft night singing the Alabama quarterback’s praises.

Let me preface this closer by making one thing clear. Earnings calls can be sliced and diced every which way to fit a multitude of different narratives. Often times, a few EBITDA figures and year-over-year comparisons give an incomplete picture of a business’s overall health.

But I found it pretty concerning to see, even after NBC’s self-proclaimed “Legendary February,” the network posted significant losses in the first quarter of 2026.

Comcast’s media business, which includes NBCUniversal and streaming service Peacock, posted losses of $436 million in Q1 2026, per a report by TheWrap. That’s down over half-a-billion dollars compared to Q1 2025, when the unit posted profits of $107 million. The massive downswing is being attributed to increased programming costs. Turns out, it’s quite expensive to secure rights for the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and NBA games.

Peacock alone incurred $432 million in losses in the first quarter, about double the $215 million it posted in the same period last year. However, the streamer did stop the bleeding a bit compared to Q4 2025, when losses ballooned to $552 million during the first period it began payments for its new NBA deal.

Peacock did not see any significant subscriber boost, however, with its sports-heavy strategy. The streamer netted just 2 million subscribers during the quarter, from 44 million to 46 million, despite its premier lineup of live sports. To be sure, gaining 2 million subscribers is not nothing. But given the caliber of programming available on Peacock in February, it would be fair to expect a larger increase. Comcast pays an average of $5 billion per year for its NFL, NBA, and Olympic rights. It’ll need to see those properties convert more Peacock subscriptions if it wants the math on those deals to work.

There is a silver lining in Comcast’s earnings report: the media unit’s revenue skyrocketed 61% to $7.3 billion in the first quarter. Of course, one would expect a hefty revenue jump when Super Bowl ad sales alone can approach $1 billion. And revenue only matters insomuch as it outpaces costs, which clearly has not happened yet.

Fortunately for Comcast, shares are trading higher following its earnings call on Thursday, amid positive developments in its broadband business, which is far more vital to the company’s health than NBCUniversal and Peacock.

Still, Comcast made a sizable bet on live sports driving value for its media business. And so far, the early returns are not encouraging.